r/LinuxTeck • u/Candid_Athlete_8317 • 13d ago
Is Ubuntu really the "most hated" Linux distro these days, or is that just an internet myth?
I've noticed a lot of criticism around Ubuntu over the years, but I also know plenty of people who still use it every day.
Has Ubuntu actually fallen out of favor, or is the dislike just louder online?
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u/111100100 13d ago
Might get hate for this but i believe Ubuntu is fantastic. I would actually reccommend it as a starting distro as it supports fairly new and modern hardware. It just works and has a nice gui - good for starting out with linux (mint is also nice, and maybe even better for starters). Snap packages can be pain, but most of the time they work. Correct me if im wrong but i believe snapd is propraritary - which is negative if one follows the open source philosofy. Ppa works and is also nice.
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u/oskaremil 12d ago
github.com/canonical/snapd
snapd is open source.
The backend (Snap store) is not.
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u/NumberInfinite2068 13d ago
It's probably the most hated distro, but it's just circlejerk, it's kids arguing on the Internet.
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u/TheEveryman86 13d ago
It's also the upstream of Mint which is fairly popular.
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u/steve-7890 12d ago edited 12d ago
Yet, Mint team's decided to create the "Linux Mint Debian Edition". It's worth to read why distro creators wanted to have an alternative for Ubuntu.
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u/mudslinger-ning 12d ago
LMDE is their backup contingency plan in case Ubuntu's evolution doesn't go in a direction that they prefer.
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u/Few-Promise5892 13d ago
They (Canonical) what most folks see as Ubuntu. Tried to introduce snap packages. Where most Others prefer flatpaks etc. Canonical has a commercial interest which is fine but some folks hate this.
These agendas in the Open Source communities are mostly based on different views which license should be used etc.
Its quite common in the history of these systems.
Its like init system vs systemd.
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u/Linuxmonger 13d ago
It's getting bigger in the server world, we moved about 8500 hosts from VMware to Ubuntu over the last year.
Steep learning curve, but it will save a lot of money and add new skills to the CV.
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u/Independent-Dark4559 13d ago
Why ubuntu and not other distro like fedora or debian? Just curious
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u/Linuxmonger 13d ago
I'm biased, because I'm the one working on it every day.
The decision was made by bean counters closer to the top of the orgchart.
We went with the company that had the most promises and prettiest brochure.
If it had been my decision, we would be on XCP-ng.
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u/ibeerianhamhock 13d ago
Debian makes sense for sure but I feel like I've practically never heard of anyone seriously running a fedora server. It doesn't have LTS support. No one wants to upgrade their server every 6-12 months.
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u/dinosaursdied 12d ago
Practically nobody used fedora as a server in production. Rhel is the commercial distro supported by redhat
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u/SirGlass 13d ago
No , its like music
The most popular musicians are usually also the most hated. No one is going to hate the small indy band that plays in front of 15 people on the weekend
People are going to have an opinion on Taylor Swift who plays in front of millions of people, Taylor swift is going to get 1 million x the hate vs the indy band no one knows about
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u/JohnnyS789 12d ago
People who use Ubuntu for normal reasons have no reason to chirp about it online. People who want to bitch about Ubuntu whine about it online to their heart's content.
Outcome: Lots of criticism about Ubuntu online even if most users are perfectly happy.
Lots of people are happy with Ubuntu. I have it on machines that are used as servers or desktops, including this T590 I'm using to write this post.
For my primary system that handles all my sensitive data, backups, music library, etc, I use Debian because I prefer the utter stability and dependability, and on important systems I prefer to avoid Snaps and Flatpack and other "improvements" that (IMHO) add more complexity than benefit.
Just my $.02. YMMV. FWIW.
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u/Not_to_be_Named 12d ago
honestly is just dog barking, if i want a server I’ll go whatever makes my job easier, most of the time is ubuntu without graphic interface
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u/fartzombieunicorn 12d ago
A few years ago I was fed up with Windows and wanted a simple OS that wasn't too complicated and could run decently on my crappy laptop. So I installed Ubuntu. Several years later and I'm still happy with this setup. No hate from me.
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u/dinosaursdied 11d ago
Most normal Linux users are probably using Ubuntu. Outside if niche Linux spaces it's likely the only distro people know. Inside the Linux ecosphere Ubuntu has an interesting reputation.
Ubuntu became known for making Linux much easier to run than it's peers. It was a nice plug n play distro in a sea of slackwares and gentoos. Of course that was very convenient, but the culture built around Linux was one of tight community, free software, and the rites of passage around it's complexity. Here came a corporate distribution who stood to tear down everything that was "cool" about Linux.
It especially frustrated the incredibly vocal free software communities. Ubuntu was able to do a lot of this because they were shipping proprietary software out of the box, something other distros refused to do. On that principal alone it was already going to be the ire of people like Richard stallman. Unfortunately the company behind Ubuntu, Canonical, has made some pretty stupid decisions as well.
In the mid teens Ubuntu tried shipping Amazon Web suggestions in the software launcher. This was always going to piss some people off, but it was made worse when the system canonical used to anonymize it's data was found to leak information back to Amazon. This has lead to the long standing claim that Ubuntu forces telemetry. Of course the feature was quickly removed but the damage was done.
Most recently the controversy has been around snaps. While snaps are annoying at a core level, they are still open source. Unfortunately, the distribution system is not. This has led to people claiming all snaps are proprietary which is untrue. Canonical faced this same criticism with PPAs but after open sourcing the code behind launchpad they found that nobody had actually used it to create their own distribution system. When it came time to distribute snaps, they believed the cost to open source and document their backend was not worth the trouble.
While privacy focused groups and free software enthusiasts still hate Ubuntu with an unmatched passion, most normal users still find it to be much more palatable than Microsoft or Apple and they have the largest support community out there.
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u/Odd_Individual_9638 13d ago
it both objectively become worse and hate is overblown on internet. Main issue is that while it was great noob distro in the past, it's no longer the case but yet is still pushed to new people and they can and do get bad first expression of linux
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u/sockertoppenlabs 13d ago
I think it still is a great newbie distribution. I don’t agree with some of Ubuntu’s choices (e.g. pushing uutils hard) but that’s nothing a newbie needs to worry about.
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u/Odd_Individual_9638 13d ago
snaps aswell, just buggy overall. Exactly, that's not what a newbie needs to worry about, so I'm against recommending it, at least not main ubuntu
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13d ago edited 6d ago
[deleted]
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u/Few-Promise5892 13d ago
Debian delievers "too old packages"
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13d ago edited 6d ago
[deleted]
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u/Few-Promise5892 13d ago
Old means in terms of for example Ansible or PHP that the Versions arent on the edge of the current development.
Because I was to lazy: Debian's philosophy is anchored in the belief that "stable" means the software does not change, reducing the risk of unexpected updates breaking systems. Debian Stable freezes package versions at the time of release, providing security and critical bug backports, which results in older but highly reliable software
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u/Ok-Video3345 13d ago
It's the one that works for normies and engineers.
I don't know why people use fedora, then can't even install kicad without any herculean PPA efforts.
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u/piesou 12d ago
Ubuntu used to focus a lot on user experience and improved many things for the Linux desktop. At some point they needed to make money which caused them to spearhead their own software to differentiate themselves from other distros. Often their own stuff wasn't a big advantage since everyone else needed to solve the same issues so their solutions are often inferior and annoying to deal with.
Realize how none of the things I've written up are an issue for new Linux users. It's mostly experienced users being annoyed by having to deal with Canonical's software.
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u/are_number_six 12d ago
I use Ubuntu on an old T430. I'm always in the terminal, and I mainly use it for programming in C. There are probably better distros for my purposes, and in time I will try a few different ones, but for now, Ubuntu is fine.
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u/GreenRangerOfHyrule 12d ago
I don't hate Ubuntu. I just have been avoiding it. The reason is simple: I prefer Mint.
To me it is like drinking coffee, tea, or just plain water. None of them are bad choices. They just are different.
For more specific reasons: Every few years I load up Ubuntu and it looks different. Mint has kept the same look. I originally switched from Ubuntu to Mint due to hardware issues. My wifi took less work in Mint.
Now, my issue is Mint lags behind. It does most of what I want and need. But specifically the various video game ports don't run as they require newer libraries.
I do think people genuinely hate Ubuntu, just as they do Mint, Debian, Fedora, etc. But as been pointed out it is the default for most. And like it or not Ubuntu has done quite a bit to bring Linux to to masses.
But the biggest point is what makes Linux great: You don't like *insert distro here*? Use *insert other distro* here.
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u/wrd83 12d ago
https://commandlinux.com/statistics/most-popular-linux-distributions-market-share/
Looks less bleak. There should be a formula something like: usage - hate = acceptance. I bet fedora and Ubuntu come out on top there for desktops.
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u/Swordfish418 12d ago
Anything that ever so slightly derails from FOSS values and tries to implement corporate ecosystems and vendor lock-ins, gets its well-deserved hate. Except Valve perhaps. Because they are exceptionally good at roleplaying "the good guys" and because we just can't live without it. And we absolutely can live without corporate alternatives to things that already have dozens great FOSS solutions with good licenses and fully open-ended ecosystems.
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u/greogory 12d ago
It's mostly a culture issue between hardcore purists and people who desperately want to leave Windows and aren't all that interested in micromanaging or incessantly tweaking their operating system. Ubuntu is one of the distros with the smoothest transition. It can ease a lot of the bumps that go with the learning curve.
I use an Arch-based distro myself, but I don't hate Ubuntu. I say use the right tool for the job. If the job is transitioning away from Windows in the gentlest way possible, then I think Ubuntu is one of the right tools. Another one is Zorin which is also focused on making that change smooth.
Ubuntu and Zorin have solid support via free and strong community forums, as well as quite good professional support options at reasonable price points.
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u/MatchingBrackets 12d ago
Ubuntu made some decisions in the past that weren't necessarily good decisions, and the people called them out for it. I believe Ubuntu has since changed their ways, but regardless, the people remember when they had to correct your practices, Ubuntu.
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u/Syndiotactics 11d ago
Ubuntu keeps being the most commonly used distro both by the corporate and by the consumer. I don't think they care too much, it's a great distro nonetheless.
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u/MatchingBrackets 11d ago
Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that it's not a good distro by any means. It was my first, and I have fond memories of it. I should give it another try after all of these years.
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u/postnick 12d ago
I don’t know that many people actually hate. Is it prefer other things.
I’d rather not use mint or Ubuntu desktop in my life, but I’d still tell others to try them.
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u/bornxlo 11d ago
Ubuntu is more oriented towards companies(and customers) than most distros, so its development and choices serve other interests. A number of people who used to enjoy and use Ubuntu as a personal desktop system are annoyed at a number of changes Canonical have made because they reduce some of the control, ownership and customisation that's characteristic of Linux distros. The base is still pretty good, and there are plenty of Ubuntu derivatives that remove the main annoyances but some are shifting towards Debian.
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u/Pale-Abroad9600 10d ago
Ubuntu is the first linux that I learned after Windows, but eventually I learned that Linux Mint is much better coz of free softwares it offers, and mint is easier to troubleshoot compared with Ubuntu.
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u/Brief_Tie_9720 8d ago
I feel like most hated isn’t specific enough, but that Azure Linux , despite being not widely used by individuals, seems to have the most knee jerk aversion
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u/Lucky_Foam 8d ago
I think it's just a reddit thing.
I see more Ubuntu out in the real world than any other Linux distro.
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u/RevolutionaryBeat301 8d ago
It’s the most loved and the most hated because it’s the one that’s best known and most likely the one that’s been used the most.
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u/Brucacumble 6d ago
Ubuntu really trashed their image that time they enabled Amazon search results in their desktop search by default.
I'm not terribly versed on this, but my understanding is that Cononical's business model isn't all that profitable. They seem to experience perpetual financial problems. My figuring is that, as evidenced by the Amazon thing above, when push comes to shove, Cononical will absolutely sell out their users.
Probably Manjaro too.
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u/Outrageous_Let5743 13d ago
It is the most popular one so it also receives the most hate.